'The factual entertainment genre in India has grown by 29 per cent since History TV18’s debut, and the channel is the number one factual entertainment channel across some key metrics. India is an interesting market for factual. Some other territories have been reticent to push the boundaries of the genre, though when they do, viewers are very open to the change. That’s not the case in India; it’s an exciting, dynamic market at the forefront of new programming trends.'

Sean Cohan oversees the International Division of A+E Networks, managing the company’s brands, content, and services outside the US, and a staff based in New York, London and Singapore. The division’s activities include branded channels, content sales, and digital media distribution. Today, A+E Networks operates 54 branded international pay-TV channels and distributes their extensive library across a range of platforms.

In this interaction with exchange4media’s Synjini Nandi, Cohan speaks about the evolution of the factual entertainment genre in India, the global outlook of the growth of this genre and the introduction of original Indian content in the channel.

We are thrilled with the success of History TV18 in its first year. Ajay Chacko has assembled a talented and dedicated team, and their hard work and creativity has truly paid off. From launch, the channel has made a tremendous impact in the market. The factual entertainment genre in India has grown by 29 per cent since History TV18’s debut, and the channel is the number one factual entertainment channel across some key metrics. History TV 18 has the highest time spent per viewer in the factual entertainment genre. It’s clear that we’ve made an impact versus competitors who have been in the market for 10 to 15 years.

There were a number of important milestones for JV this year. First and foremost was the extraordinary launch campaign the team developed for History TV18. We have a mantra at A+E Networks: go big or go home. There’s no doubt about it – the launch of History in India was big. I keep coming back to the word impactful; the advertising and promo launch campaign was just that – the brand was everywhere. Having Salman Khan, one of Bollywood’s biggest stars, as launch spokesman sent a clear message to viewers and to the industry.

Another critically important milestone was the outstanding success of the original production, ‘The Greatest Indian’. The programme saw an unprecedented 20 million viewers tune-in for the finale. And the marketing team generated great buzz for the program by engaging viewers through a comprehensive social media campaign. The campaign reached over 20 lakh Facebook users and generated a number of discussions across other platforms. Viewers even started their own Facebook pages to advocate for their choice. It was a really exciting initiative – more so when you consider it was for the channel’s first original production during the first year of broadcast.

Q.
'Discovery' and 'NGC' occupy a certain mind space with the Indian viewer. What is the kind of space that History TV18 would like to create for itself, since in a manner of speaking the brand is relatively new?

In the US, History is a top five pay-TV channel across all key demos. Under the leadership of Nancy Dubuc, the President of Entertainment and Media for A+E Networks, History has become the hottest brand in US television and has some of the most talked about programmes in all of television. Our competitors in the US are watching and imitating us. I’d like to think that History TV18 can have the same success in India – to be viewed as a leading entertainment channel, not just a leading factual channel.

Factual entertainment is absolutely a growth area for television worldwide. The genre is bringing in bigger audiences than ever and we’re seeing some really innovative programming being developed by channels around the world.

History is available in 150-plus countries, and we see clear evidence of the worldwide growth of the genre through the success of our brand in overseas market. This is a very exciting time for factual – television networks like History and our flagship brand in the US, A&E, have really pushed the genre into new directions. The great news is that viewers are responding very positively.

India is an interesting market for factual. Some other territories have been reticent to push the boundaries of the genre, though when they do, viewers are very open to the change. That’s not the case in India; it’s an exciting, dynamic market at the forefront of new programming trends. That being said, factual is still a comparatively small proportion of total viewership so we see lots of room to grow viewership more dramatically in the coming years.

Q.
We have not seen much of original Indian content on the channel, except for ‘Greatest Indian’, and it looks like that effort paid for the channel. In light of that, can we expect more original Indian content on the channel? Any specific plans that you can share?

With the History brand, we always emphasise to our partners the importance of local programming. History is a very personal subject and we know viewers want to watch shows about their country’s History told from a regional and global perspective. History TV18 launched two original productions this year, ‘The Greatest Indian’ and ‘Saving the Ganga’, and you can expect this output to grow in the future. It’s an important part of the brand’s evolution in India, as it is in every market. While it will be difficult to replicate the outstanding success of ‘The Greatest Indian’ every time, the success of the programme clearly demonstrates that viewers want to see more original, local content.

I don’t have any specific announcements at this time, but I’m sure Ajay will have more to announce in the near future.

A+E Networks has a strong and vibrant portfolio of channel brands that target diverse demos, and our strategy is to launch all our brands in each market, including History, Lifetime, Crime & Investigation Network, BIO and H2. We have had on-going conversations with partners about launching our other brands, but have nothing to announce at this time.

For year two, we expect continued growth for History TV18 in India on a number of fronts including ratings, channel position, ad sales and increased original production. We also will likely see another channel brand in the market.

I believe this medium is going through a difficult period, where people tend to compromise their value system all too easily. I also believe that for every five people who compromise there are always two who are holding the flame of truth, so the glass is half full for me .

M&E is such a dynamic industry. What keeps me awake or worries me, is losing the ability to keep in touch with the consumer, because the viewer or the consumer is evolving so rapidly. As an organization, the day we stop connecting, we have a problem. I keep reflecting, do we have the right culture, do we have the right people, do we have the right processes, do we have the right DNA in a manner of speaking which is more enterprising, so that we are constantly in touch, so that we are able to move with them if not a little ahead of them? Are we managing to stay with the curve?

What is happening in India with the new government, politically and economically, the next few years look very interesting and different. The other thing is MEC itself in the country. This is our fastest growing market in the world; so there is something that the guys here are doing are doing it right. So what we are looking to do is understand what we are doing right in India and take it to other geographies. At the same time, we are also looking at ways to speed it up. The new political and economic situation in the country combined with a dynamic and strong performance by MEC has created a “perfect storm” situation, if you like.

India now has global enterprises and multinationals. They are evolving and they are good at research and development. I am not worried about the big global enterprises I am worried about medium sizes enterprises. They are the ones who face challenges and competition. They can’t make things in a 19th century environment. They need to enhance and be able to compete.

The big monopoly houses in Indian cable industry have been offering resistance at every step of our journey. The big players thrive on the weaknesses of the small operators while our strategy is based on their empowerment. Many of these small LCOs are not highly educated and don’t fully understand the DAS regulations and matters related to taxation, etc. But they have made money by setting up their networks. At times they succumb to the pressure tactics and allurements of the big players but the history of the cable trade has shown that they don’t want to lose the control of their networks and of their customers.